Hey Reddit! I'm going to France and Italy for two weeks. Any suggestions?

I'll be over there for two weeks, and have a rail pass for the two countries. I'm a student so cheap is good! If you know any great places to visit, things to do, or general advice, it would be much appreciated.

Go to Lucca in Italy, rent a bike, and ride it inside the walls. Lucca is one of my favorite places in the world. Also, if you get a chance, go to Sicily and eat some seafood. Sit in a cafe in Paris, while drinking wine and people watching. Also, eat some escargot.

Rome, hands down just beautiful. If you want to get into the attractions quicker than anybody else (Vatican line was 2 hours long!), find a group of people selling tours for romaround (romearound sp?). They sound a bit suspicious and desperate but they are legit and all come from an English speaking country. We got into the Vatican within 20 mins. They do the cattacombs, Coliseum, everything there. We only spent 2 days in Rome and it was NOT ENOUGH time for everything. Be sure to keep all your stuff on you secure, they have very good pickpocketers there.

It doesn't matter. Saying you might get attacked for being American is ridiculous.

Every time I ask the locals what they think about Americans, they agree people are people and we are not necessarily our leaders. Although, they love our President anyway. Harper, they don't seem to have an opinion on. Is he still even there?

Of course, the fact that I ask in fluent French might skew the results...

Learn basic French phrases if you're going to any remote place in France. It will help a lot. Togglemuch is right, people hate tourists who don't try to be a part of the culture for their visit and simply want to scream English at people and find the nearest McDonald's.

Italians are VERY friendly. Almost everyone I came in contact with spoke English well and no one in Italy gave me or my husband the cold shoulder while we were visiting (Venice and Rome). They were very accommodating and polite.

In France, go in bakeries. Buy bread and pastries. There are no bakeries in the world like French bakeries. Annecy is a GORGEOUS city, if you have access to it.